App of the Week: Vrse brings virtual reality videos to any iOS or Android device

Virtual reality is the most exciting technology since the birth of the smartphone, and while consumer headsets are now available, most are expensive and require an even more expensive computer to run well. But your phone can show off some of the benefits coming to our virtual future right now.

Vrse is an iOS and Android app that shows off some of the best VR videos around. Just plug your phone into a Google Cardboard or a similar headset and you’re ready to be transported into another world.

Technically, you’re not quite getting a true virtual reality experience. But the 360 degree video show off some of the benefits that VR enables, like telling a story that gets you looking around a scene.

Vrse also has some of the best sound in VR right now. While tracking what direction you’re looking is something pretty much all 360 degree video apps can do fine, some don’t alter the sound as you look around. But Vrse helps complete the illusion with audio that moves with you.

So when a dolphin swims up behind you, you can hear it clicking to its friends, causing you to whip around in your chair to spot it before it takes off. Once you get the immersive 360 sound, going back to standard stereo can be hard.

While you can watch the videos online or on your phone, viewing them through a VR viewer adds an immense depth thanks to the natural navigation of just turning your head.

Vrse is a free download and all the 360 degree videos available on the platform are free of charge for now. The app works on iOS and Android devices, and is also compatible with the Samsung Gear VR.

App of the Week is a regular feature of the GeekWire radio show and podcast, airing at 7 p.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m. Sundays on KIRO Radio (97.3 FM) in the Seattle region, except when pre-empted by live sports. The show runs every weekend on GeekWire.com. Get every episode using this RSS feed, or subscribe in iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher. Note: GeekWire may receive a share of the revenue from your purchase of apps or content through affiliate partnerships.

James Risley is a technology writer living in Seattle. He’s written for the Medill News Service and helped build small, news-focused web tools for covering transportation and politics. You can follow James on Twitter or Instagram and reach him at james@geekwire.com.